嚇死人不償命的十大荒誕故事(下)

ng Your Future Husband

5.看見你的未來丈夫

Now here is an old wives' tale especially for those women too impatient to wait to find out who their future husband will be.

現在有一個荒誕故事特別適合那些迫不及待想要知道自己未來丈夫的女人。

Wait until midnight on Halloween. Go stand in front of a mirror in the dark and then light a candle. While staring at your own face, take a bite out of an apple and slowly brush your hair at the same time. Concentrate hard. Slowly your face will morph into that of your future husband. Another option is to peel the apple in a single strip and and then throw the peel over your left shoulder. These peels will then spell out the initials of your future husband (a cynical man might change his name to something beginning with C or S). In some versions the woman's face does not morph—instead a vision of her Prince Charming will appear behind her and stare back at her in the mirror.

一直等到萬聖節的午夜12點。在黑暗裏站在鏡子的面前，然後點燃一隻蠟燭。在你盯着自己的臉看的時候，咬一口蘋果，同時慢慢地梳理自己的頭髮。集中精力。漸漸地，你的臉就會變成你未來丈夫的臉。另外你還可以選擇把蘋果皮削成單獨一條，然後把它扔在你的左肩。這些蘋果皮會拼出你未來丈夫名字裏的首字母。在一些版本中，女人的臉不會發生變化——相反，她的白馬王子的影像會出現在她的身後，在鏡子裏盯着她看。

This tale dates back to ancient Celtic times and the festival of Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) on November 1, which is the traditional Celtic New Year. Samhain is almost identical to the modern-day Halloween. The Celts believed that during this celebration, time ceased to have meaning and spirits crossed over from their own world. These spirits included ghosts, fairies, and demons. People would light bonfires to protect themselves from them until Samhain was over. It was also believed that apples were magical fruit from the spirit realm—Avalon, where King Arthur is said to lie, means "Isle of Apples."

這個故事可以追溯到古凱爾特人時期和12月1日的夏末節Samhain(讀作SAH-win，也是凱爾特人傳統的新年）。夏末節和現代的萬聖節幾乎如出一轍。凱爾特人認爲在這個慶祝活動期間，時間不再有意義，鬼神們會跨越他們自己的世界出來活動。這些鬼神包括鬼混，精靈和惡魔。人們會點燃篝火保護自己不被鬼神附體直到夏末節結束。人們還認爲蘋果是來自靈界的神奇水果——阿瓦隆（凱爾特族傳說中的西方樂土島），據說亞瑟王就長眠於此。它的意思是"蘋果的島嶼"。

bells Of Death

4.死亡門鈴

If you hear a knock at your front door and you get up to answer it only to find no one there, open the door wide for a couple of seconds and then close it. This will let a good spirit in. But don't open it again if there are more knocks. Not even if they continue for the rest of the night. You might just be inviting an evil spirit into your home. And if there are three knocks the first time around, don't open the door at all! If there is a knock at your back door, it is the devil himself looking to come in.

如果你聽見有人在敲前門，你前去應門，但是發現什麼人也沒有，門大大地敞開着持續了幾秒然後再關上。這樣，好的鬼神就會進來。但是如果還有人來敲門的話千萬不要開門，即使敲門聲持續一個晚上也不行。你也許會把惡鬼邀請到家中。如果第一次聽到三下敲門聲，千萬不能開門！如果後門有一下敲門聲，那就是惡魔自己想要進來。

Superstitions surrounding door-knocking abound in many different cultures and it's no surprise that after the invention of doorbells, they started to be included as example, in some places it is believed that if a doorbell rings continuously for no reason, something dreadful has happened or is about to happen. Whitney Houston's mother revealed in a letter that her doorbell had mysteriously started ringing the day her daughter died. She firmly believed that Whitney had come to visit her and was making her presence known by ringing the doorbell.A woman in east Tennessee claims to have had a similarly chilling experience. After moving into a new house, Emily Miller was woken by the sound of her doorbell ringing at three in the morning. She got up, disgruntled, only to find there was no one at the door. For the next couple of weeks, the bell rang at least every second morning at three o'clock. No logical explanation could be found, even after the installation of a motion sensor camera at the front door and calls to local police. No one was ever there. Weeks stretched into months and then years until finally Emily had had enough. She had her son rip the doorbell out of its mounting and throw it away. That night, the now-missing doorbell rang again . . .

關於鬼敲門的迷信在許多不同文化中數不勝數，門鈴被髮明之後也開始被歸於迷信一列也是情理之中，無需驚訝。舉個例子說吧。在一些地方人們認爲如果門鈴無緣無故響個不停，那麼一些可怕的事情已經出現或者即將到來。惠特尼·休斯頓（女歌手）的母親在一封信中透露說：在她女兒死去的那天她家的門鈴就詭祕地響個不停。她堅持認爲是惠特尼來看她，她按門鈴是爲了讓母親知道她來過。在美國田納西州東部的一個女人聲稱自己也有一段不寒而慄的經歷，與其非常相似。艾米麗·米勒在搬到新家之後隔天早上三點就被她家的門鈴吵醒了。於是她起牀，一臉憤怒，卻發現門前什麼人也沒有。接下來的幾周裏，每天早上三點鐘至少每隔一秒門鈴就會響起來。甚至在前門裝了監控攝像機和報案給當地警察之後，也沒能得出合理解釋。那個時候沒人在那裏。時間匆匆流逝，轉眼間已經幾年過去，艾米麗終於受夠了。她讓兒子把門鈴從裝備上扯去並把它扔掉。那個晚上那個被丟棄的門鈴還是一遍一遍響個不停……

s Of Falling Asleep

3.入睡風險

There are many old wives' tales about the supposed dangers of sleep—not surprising, given a person's vulnerability in that state. Many people used to believe that having plants in one's bedroom was a terrible idea. It was thought that the plants sucked up all of the oxygen in the room, ultimately killing the people asleep there. There was also a belief that the soul leaves the body during a deep sleep and so if you're woken with a start, you could immediately die. This tale is most likely where the urban legend regarding the waking of sleepwalkers originated.

人們猜想人在入睡後會有危險，這種荒誕故事非常之多——這也不足爲奇，因爲人在睡眠狀態的時候是極其脆弱的。過去人們常常認爲在房間裏放一盆植物是一種可怕的想法，因爲植物會吸光房間裏所有的氧氣，最終會殺死那個還在夢鄉的人。還有一種說法就是在深睡眠的時候靈魂會脫離身體，所以如果你突然被叫醒的話你就會馬上死去。關於叫醒夢遊者的傳聞最有可能來源於此。

Sleeping in direct moonlight was said to lead to madness and even blindness. Sleeping with a mirror facing you was also a big no-no. Negative energies are supposedly caught in mirrors and reflected back to the sleeping person during the her creepy old wives' tale says that whoever falls asleep first on their wedding night (of the bride and groom) will be the first to die.

據說，在月光的直照下睡覺人會變得瘋狂，甚至還會失明。睡覺的時候臉面對着鏡子也是絕對的禁忌。據說鏡子裏面聚集着負面的能量，在晚上會反射到正在睡覺的人身上。另一個荒誕故事是：新郎和新娘，誰在新婚之夜先睡着誰就會先死。

orn Babies

2.新生的嬰兒

Due to the high infant mortality rates in pre-modern times, a vast number of superstitions have sprung up around the months after birth. In Russia there used to be a strong belief among new mothers that you shouldn't show off your newborn baby to strangers or take it out in public for at least 40 days. This will ensure that no negative energy or evil presence latches onto your little one. Only the mother and father were allowed to see the baby during this time, not even extended family. In many Christian traditions, the period between birth and christening is a particularly risky time, because of the belief that unbaptized babies cannot go to heaven.

因爲近代時期嬰兒死亡率極高，嬰兒在出生後幾個月的迷信故事就不斷涌現。在俄羅斯，新媽媽們過去常常會有一個強烈的信念：不該把新生的嬰兒炫耀給陌生人或者至少在四十天內不能帶到公共場合。這樣才能確保負面能量或者惡魔不依附在嬰兒的身上。在這期間，只有孩子的爸爸媽媽能夠看自己的寶寶，甚至連其他家庭成員也不行。在許多基督教的派系中，嬰兒從出生到洗禮儀式期間是特別危險的一段時期，因爲他們認爲未經洗禮的嬰兒是不能去天堂的。

A particularly unnerving old wives' tale from the Dominican Republic warned new mothers to keep a watchful eye on their newborn so that they do not fall prey to the bruja. The bruja is a legendary witch with the ability to turn into a large bird. In order to turn into an avian creature, she has to remove her skin. Then in bird form she can suck the blood of a newborn either through its navel or big toe. At one point in history, also in the Dominican Republic, there were fears that if a mother rocked her baby boy's crib when he was not inside it, it would cause the child to become insane. If, on the other hand, they leave a baseball glove hanging above the crib, the boy might grow up to be a talented baseball player. In some parts of the world it is feared that if a pregnant woman gets a fright during her pregnancy and touches her face, her baby will be born with a reddish-purple birthmark on the same place the woman's hands rested.

多米尼加共和國有一個特別讓人緊張不安的荒誕故事。人們警告新媽媽們要小心看護自己的寶寶，這樣才能避免成爲"bruja"女巫的獵物。"bruja"女巫是傳說中能夠把自己變成一隻大鳥的女巫。爲了變成鳥類她不得不脫掉自己的皮膚。變成鳥之後她就能通過肚臍或者大腳趾吸食新生兒的血液。多米尼加共和國曆史上一度流行着一種恐懼。如果在嬰兒的靈魂出竅的時候媽媽搖了他的嬰兒牀，那麼寶寶就會變成瘋子。另一方面，如果在嬰兒牀上放一雙棒球手套，那麼寶寶長大之後就是一個非常有天賦的棒球選手。在世界的一些地方，人們心裏有一種恐懼：如果一個孕婦在她懷孕期間受到驚嚇摸了她的臉，那麼她的孩子在出生時在她手曾經放過的地方會有一塊紅紫色胎記。

tling At Night

1.在晚上吹口哨

The sound of whistling seems to be upsetting for many people around the world and also the focus of many old wives' tales.

口哨的聲音對於世界上很多人來說是非常惱人的，同時它也是許多荒誕故事的焦點。

Not only is a constant whistling at night very annoying to those who have to listen to it, but it is seen as an invitation for ghosts and even snakes to enter your home. It seems that this Japanese old wives' tale developed from the time when child trafficking was very prevalent there. According to legend, whistling after dark was a signal to the sellers that children were ready to be taken. It is thought that by creating a tale around it, children would be afraid of making a noise at night, in theory protecting them from these criminals—although it was probably just to keep them quiet so their parents could sleep.

在晚上持續的口哨聲對聽到的人來說不但非常惱人，而且還會把鬼甚至蛇類邀請到家中。這個日本的傳言似乎是在拐賣兒童非常盛行的時候形成的。據說，在晚上吹口哨就是通知賣家帶走小孩的信號。人們認爲通過編造這個故事，孩子們就會害怕在晚上發出聲音，理論上來講是保護他們遠離罪犯——儘管這可能只是爲了讓孩子們安靜，這樣父母就可以睡覺。

In Korea, the belief that whistling at night would summon snakes or ghosts also existed, and so people would play the traditional Korean pipe flute instead. In Turkey, people were warned against whistling as it was thought to be a summons for the devil himself. And whistling at night in Hawaii is not a good idea either, because you might just anger one of the much-feared night marchers in the area.

在韓國，在晚上吹口哨會召喚出蛇類或者鬼魂的流言一直存在，所以人們會演奏傳統的韓國笛子，以此取代口哨。在土耳其，人們被告誡不要吹口哨因爲口哨會召喚出惡魔。此外，在晚上吹口哨在夏威夷也不是一個好主意，因爲你可能會惹怒該地區更爲嚇人的夜巡者。

翻譯：高陳影 來源：前十網